Gestation Crates

February 23, 2012

The past few months have been deeply encouraging for Americans who care about the worst abuses of farm animals, as legislation has been introduced that would—once and for all—relegate the barren battery cage to the dust bin of history and the two most well-known pork producers have pledged to stop using gestation crates by 2017.

Battery CagesBattery cages (aka “conventional cages”) are tiny cages that confine five hens per cage, with more than 100,000 hens in a shed. In these tiny cages, the animals can’t spread a single wing or do anything else that is natural to them (well, beyond breathing). Their muscles and bones waste away and the animals go insane from stress and boredom. Right now, roughly 95 percent of the nation’s 250 million hens are suffering in these tiny torture devices.

Thanks to undercover investigation after undercover investigation of battery cages by the animal rights group Mercy for Animals—most recently just a few months back in Minnesota, Iowa, and Colorado—Americans are learning just how horribly cruel these cages are. And thanks to that knowledge, citizens in the state of California voted to ban them, by the widest margin in California ballot initiative history.

The egg industry saw the writing on the wall, and is now supporting legislation that will phase out barren cages over 18 years. Obviously that’s an unfortunate timeframe, but it’s a lot better than never, and the legislation will almost immediately improve conditions for tens of millions of hens (by giving them 40 percent more space and banning starvation-induced molting) and will require labels on cartons within a year—provisions that would warrant support for the legislation even without the cage ban.

Gestation CratesA gestation crate is a tiny stall that is roughly the size of a pregnant pig’s body; roughly 85 percent of pregnant pigs live almost their entire lives crammed into these hideous devices, where—just like battery cages—the animals’ muscles and bones waste away, their bodies develop sores from laying in their own ammonia-laden waste, and these very intelligent animals go insane from stress and boredom.

Although federal legislation is not yet possible to ban gestation crates, corporations are taking notice. Thanks to undercover investigations by the Humane Society of the United States and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, combined with successful efforts at the state level—where Florida, Arizona, and California have banned the crates in landslide votes—the nation’s two most well-known pork companies, Hormel and Smithfield, have pledged to get rid of the crates by 2017.

ConclusionAt Farm Sanctuary, we spend our lives with farm animals, and we know them as individuals. For the same reason I wouldn’t eat my cats, I wouldn’t eat a chicken, pig, or any animal. I know that other animals are individuals, with needs and emotions and the full range of emotion and cognition. There really is no difference between eating a cat or a chicken, a pig or a dog. As Jane Goodall explains, “farm animals feel pleasure and sadness, excitement and resentment, depression, fear, and pain. They are far more aware and intelligent than we ever imagined . . . they are individuals in their own right.”

But like 92 percent of Americans, I also support improved treatment for farm animals, and at the very least, that means an end to confinement systems like gestation crates and battery cages that are horrible for animals, both physiologically and psychologically.

This is where you come in: These horrid industries are listening, but there is still opposition. If you want to see an end to battery cages, sign up for email alerts at FarmSanctuary.org; we’ll keep you updated on all the latest efforts to relegate these horrid devices to the dustbin of history where they belong.

March 16, 2011

Last year, caring citizens took to the streets across the state of Ohio and helped collect 500,000 signatures of registered voters to place an initiative on the statewide ballot to ban some of the cruelest forms of factory farming confinement: veal crates for calves, gestation crates for pigs, and battery cages for egg-laying hens. On the day these signatures were to be turned in, agribusiness came to the table and negotiated a compromise agreement, brokered by former Governor Ted Strickland, to phase out veal and gestation crates, and to prevent the construction of any new battery cage operations.

The newly-created Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board (OLCSB) is responsible for implementing parts of the agreement, but recently voted to allow calves to be confined in veal crates, where they are kept in a state of misery, for most of their lives. This is a blatant violation of the compromise agreement and an affront to basic animal welfare principles. If you live in Ohio, please write to the OLCSB and urge them to reverse their position on veal crates when they meet again on April 5.

February 10, 2011

As Farm Sanctuary’s executive director, I spend a lot of my time traveling across the country to advocate on behalf of farm animals. But at the end of the day, I call Massachusetts my home. That’s why I’m excited to announce that, as part of our Anti-Confinement Campaign, we’ll be working in the Commonwealth this year to pass an important bill that would ban the cruelest forms of confinement for farm animals — the Massachusetts Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act.

It’s not news that the animal agriculture industry views farm animals as mere commodities. It’s this widespread conception that has led to institutionalized cruelty in the form of battery cages, veal crates and gestation crates. In these confinement systems, millions of egg-laying hens, calves and breeding pigs spend the majority of their lives in dark warehouses, behind bars and barely able to move. Farm Sanctuary’s Anti-Confinement Campaign aims to eliminate these particularly abhorrent conditions through state legislation, the ballot box and public education and outreach, and, thanks to our members and supporters, we’ve got a successful history to build upon in 2011 and in coming years.

Seven states have now enacted laws to ban one or more of these confinement systems. This year, we hope to add Massachusetts to that list. This bill, recently introduced by Senator Robert Hedlund and Representative Jason Lewis, would prohibit the cruel confinement of farm animals in a manner that prevents them from standing up, lying down, turning around freely, or fully extending their limbs.

At least 17,000 egg-laying hens in Massachusetts are confined in battery cage facilities each year. As a resident of the Commonwealth, I know that if compassionate people of Massachusetts — and Americans everywhere — knew the truth behind factory farming, they would reject these shocking and abusive practices. In fact, the city of Pittsfield has already enacted a local ordinance prohibiting these three confinement systems. And Cambridge and Brookline have passed resolutions encouraging residents to avoid products of intensive confinement, including veal and eggs from battery caged hens.

By working together with our members and supporters, I believe it’s only a matter of time before we can change the hearts and minds of lawmakers across the U.S. and make these cruel cages and crates things of the past. If you’re a fellow Commonwealth resident, please join me in supporting the Massachusetts Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act and help put this crucial law on the books. If you live elsewhere, you can still help us build on this momentum by taking action today to push for anti-confinement legislation in your state.

Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry ... read more.

Making Hay with Gene Baur features personal blogs from Farm Sanctuary President & Co-founder Gene Baur, as well as other entries focused on Farm Sanctuary’s advocacy efforts and the multiple ways that you can get involved and make a difference for farm animals.

Gene grew up in Hollywood, California and worked in commercials for McDonald's and other fast food restaurants. He adopted a vegan lifestyle in 1985, and today, he campaigns to raise awareness about the negative consequences of industrialized factory farming and our cheap food system. He lives in Washington, DC and is the co-founder and president of Farm Sanctuary. Read more.